How to successfully run a B2B event: Spotler’s blueprint for event managers

Events are successful when they seamlessly meet the needs and expectations of your target audience. Determining this success is only possible when the need and the desired impact are clear. We have compiled our experiences and insights from over 25,000 events organised with Spotler into a universal method. This 10-step plan provides more structure, direction, efficiency, measurability, and added value for live, online, and hybrid events.

Know your organisation’s (growth) goals

This may seem like the distant future. Yet it is essential to see where your organisation wants to grow. Events are an important tool in any growth strategy and are often part of a company’s Sales and Marketing activities. The more aware you are of this, the better you can work with all stakeholders towards the result. In this way, you prevent events from becoming an “island” in the organisation and reduce the chances of events being initiated ad hoc.

Form a relationship management and event strategy

To grow, an organisation must invest in existing and new relationships with customers, partners, stakeholders, press, investors, employees, etc. An organisation’s approach to this is called the relationship management strategy. Because it involves people, this is the basis for all events. It actually involves two essential questions:

1. Who would you like to see/talk to (who are your most important relationships)
2. When do you want to see/talk to these people (what events fit this)

Question 1 constitutes the relationship management strategy. If you know which relationships contribute to the organisation’s growth, you also know who to invest in. Question 2 forms the event strategy. After all, when you know who you want to talk to in the coming year, you can start scheduling moments to bring these target groups together in an event.

This way, you plan the event calendar for an entire year and avoid ad hoc events. This seems logical, yet people often think the opposite: We have an event, who will we invite? Instead of: We would like to speak to these people, which event fits that?

For example, a company’s investors are an important target group. They are a small and exclusive group of people. For this, a roundtable meeting or a business dinner lends itself well. When you want to (continue to) engage customers, a larger event or an (online) product presentation is a better form (perhaps with a VIP sneak peek). The choice of online, live, or hybrid events is also related to this!

Formulate event goal and objectives. First, it is crucial to consider the difference between a goal and an objective. These two words are often mistakenly used interchangeably. The big difference is that an objective and a goal are not always measurable.

For example, the event aims to inform or increase engagement. The corresponding objective is a SMART formulation: for example, “15% of participants will contact you within two weeks for more information” or “all employees will present their new plans for project X within a week.”

Specific – Measurable – Acceptable – Realistic – Timely

A good objective concerns the measurable behaviour of your target audience within the foreseeable future, preferably no longer than two to four weeks after the event. After all, you want your target audience to move. Discussing the objectives with all stakeholders in advance can address any bottlenecks that come to light. This is the time to discuss them because once you enter production mode, you often don’t have room for this.

Target audience and core message

Who is the target audience for this particular event (see step 2)? For which relationships is this event intended? Often, the target group analysis for events is superficial: female, 25 – 55 years old, highly educated, London-based. But what does this really say about the target group? What drives these people? What are their challenges? What do they struggle with? How can you help them? And why would they want to come to the event or not?

When you delve deeper into these questions, you can assess how your event will add value to them. Your colleagues in Marketing or HR often have a lot of information about the target audience. And the more events you do, the more you learn about your target audience.

Once you understand the challenges and aspirations of the target audience, it becomes much easier to explain why they should make time for this event. This way, you can make a clear promise. You should include this in the invitation email and all event communications. The more concrete you can explain, your contacts will likely sign up for the event.

Core message: the thread of the event

Think carefully about the message or experience you want to convey to the audience. What do you want them to remember? We call this “the core message”: the sentence the attendee “takes home” after the event. Try to make this the common thread that runs through the different parts of the program.

Determine budget, team & tools

You determine its worth only when you know what the event should bring in. An event budget is not a sum of cost items (catering, venue, speakers, AV) but an investment the organisation wants to make in reaching its target audience. Again, this is different from how event budgets are often looked at.

“Only when you know what the event is supposed to produce, you can determine what it is worth”

Of course, the aforementioned line items help set a guideline. Selecting the right crew, tools, and vendors is closely related to the budget. As an event professional, you can estimate your dream team to talk with the client about the budget size. Don’t forget to include event software in your cost estimate! The right software saves time by automating many manual processes.

In addition, the likelihood of errors is much lower. The choice of live, online or hybrid also plays a role in this phase. This is because the budget determines whether it is feasible to organise a hybrid variant, for example. Remember that a hybrid event involves multiple audiences: an online audience and a live audience. A hybrid variant only makes sense if the event adds value for both audiences. Therefore, a hybrid event needs a (much) larger budget than a “pure” online or live event.

Come up with a format/concept

Only now is the time to start thinking about a format or concept for the event. This step makes many event managers’ hearts beat faster, but it also brings a lot of pressure. Deciding on a concept or format becomes much easier after gathering all the information from the previous steps.

Remember that the objective and message guide the event’s success, not the concept.

As long as you get the message across, the event is successful. Of course, there are 1001 creative ways to do this; as a software company, we have very little to add. However, we regularly see that these two things are lost sight of, so the event is very creative, but ultimately does not produce the desired result.

A format is a proven concept

A recognisable format gives structure to your event and ensures that the viewer immediately understands what to expect. After all, you want the audience’s attention to stay with the content. A proven format may not be as unique, but it makes it easier to convey the core message. Remember: no matter how special your event is, you take time away from your target audience. They must fit the event into their busy work lives, making it worthwhile!

Examples of popular formats (online/live/hybrid)

• Keynote | One speaker tells a story. Usually, several speakers follow each other in the exact location. A famous example is TED.
• Report | recording of a live event, such as a concert or meeting. For example, a press conference or product presentation.
• Studio news broadcast | 2 or 3 experts discussing a specific topic, under the guidance of a presenter.
• Interview | 1 guest is interviewed on a particular topic or theme.
• Talkshow | an online discussion with guests in a Question Time-like setting. A studio with several guests. Well-suited for audience interaction.
• Roundtable discussion (offline): Guests engage with each other on one or more topics, led by a “table head” who leads the conversation (this method is often used in meetings between key stakeholders).

Design the program and select speakers

You can design the programme further based on the target audience, core message, and format/concept. The most important thing is that the programme’s content and format contribute to the target audience’s ambitions. Choose the right work formats, networking opportunities, and speakers to maximise the target group’s service.

Where speakers and audiences find themselves has a lot of influence on the programme and speakers. Are they physically present, online or both (hybrid)? Then look for the chair of the day and speakers with event experience. The dynamics and pace of the programme are also different for online and hybrid events than for live events. Keep the following principles in mind:

Online is shorter than offline

Online events are shorter than offline events because of your audience’s attention span. According to livestream expert We Are Live, an online event lasts an hour and a half. Do you have a lot to say? Then divide your event into shorter sub-themes, which you clearly state in the programme. Always keep strictly to the programme times. Starting or ending too late can be very disruptive to online audiences.

Interact with your audience

Get the audience to participate by asking questions or using polls actively. This applies to online events as well as physical or hybrid events. Make it clear how the audience can participate, and provide a moderator to guide the interaction.

Workshops

Offering workshops online is less easy than offline, but not impossible. For example, you can create smaller sessions where smaller groups or teams can perform assignments, brainstorms, or discussions. Do it only if necessary, and make sure the participants know the intention and how to return to the plenary part so you don’t “lose” them.

Different formats

You need two separate programmes for hybrid events to keep participants engaged in both the room and online. Of course, the topic or theme can be the same, but the format and experience differ. For example, use different formats, such as a live interview with a speaker for the online viewers, when the live audience is having a break or a networking moment. Always provide plenty of interaction opportunities for the online attendees.

“Engagement begins with being engaged.”

Work out registration, communication and interaction

Make sure all communication looks tiptop. By paying attention to the design of your invitation email, registration form, and event website, you ensure that your event stands out and looks professional. This will increase the chances of more registrations.

Prior

You now know exactly why your audience should attend the event, what you will bring them and how you will do it. Convey this in the invitation! Don’t start your invitation with “You are invited to event X with speaker Y”, but speak to your target audience on their ambition: “Listen to how speaker Y explains how to avoid challenge Z.”

This invitation email nicely shows how to excite your target audience immediately: The invitation email begins the conversation with your target audience. Use the registration form to ask questions of your target audience to make your event even more relevant. Furthermore, ensure you stay top-of-mind: send regular updates about the event, pay attention to your social followers, and keep the event website current.

During

The event itself is the moment for interaction with your target audience. There are many different moments for this: during the reception, breaks, networking, and workshops. Audience interaction is a great way to continue the dialogue. Use polls and viewer questions to keep your audience engaged and collect valuable information.

For example, you can use them to test whether the core message has been received or whether the audience has changed their views on a specific statement (0 and 1 measurement).

After

The conversation with your target audience doesn’t stop after the event! Always send a survey for proper evaluation (more on this in Step 10). However, sharing relevant (event) content, a (temporary) offer after the event, or another call-to-action (CTA) is also a great way to stay in touch with your target audience after the event.

Spotler’s event software is designed to register and communicate live, online and hybrid events. It’s smooth, fast and error-free. Some of our features:

• Registration (including workshops, introductions, and reserve list)
• Separate registration for hybrid events
• Branded email campaigns (invitations, updates, reminders)
• Branded event website
• Branded livestream page for online & hybrid events
• Visitors check in with the Check-in app
• Audience interaction at live, online and hybrid events
• Ticket sales
• On-site registration & badge printing
• Event survey
• Statistics and reports

Think like a director and create a script

A perfect performance hinges on a minute-by-minute script. Who says what, and when? When is which slide or video shown? And how will online viewers know who is appearing on screen? Put together a comprehensive script through the director’s lens. Especially with online and hybrid events, improvisation is only possible if everything else is tight. So, leave nothing to chance and rehearse the entire program well so everyone knows what to do.

Include in the script at least the following elements:

• Timecodes for questions and speakers
• Interaction moments
• Videos with time codes
• Leaders and bumpers
• Speakers with titles (lower thirds)
• Slides by theme

Evaluate the event and integrate the findings

Compliments from enthusiastic visitors are always lovely to receive. Yet they do not give a complete picture of the event’s success. How did people experience it, and what can you do better next time? You can discover this by sending a (short) survey after the event. Is your event online or hybrid? Then, you can ask participants for feedback directly after each sub-session for even more feedback.

Limit the survey to questions you can really do something with: measure enthusiasm with the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and test the objectives through a statement (“This event contributed to…”). Also, the survey will be used to gather input for a possible next edition of the event. Feedback on catering, location, etc. often comes up automatically if you ask one open question: what went well, what could have been better? This prevents the survey from becoming too long.

You can supplement audience interaction, session feedback and survey insights with visitor data. How many attendees checked in on location and/or online? How long was the livestream viewed on average? Which workshops were well attended? Valuable information is needed to analyse and optimise each visitor’s complete event journey.

All of this information adds to the knowledge your organisation has about its target audience. Share this data with Marketing and Sales, and use it as a starting point for your next event. This way, you ensure that all your events contribute to a better relationship with your prospects or customers.